Chase Freedom Cash Back Rewards Credit Card Review

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The Chase Freedom® Visa has one of the best rewards program in the business. What I also like about this card is that you do not need excellent credit to enjoy a top cash back credit card.

The Chase Freedom card offers 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in categories that rotate through out the year, which is very competitive with similar cards offered by American Express. The card earns you a flat 1% back on all other spending, making it a great all-around credit card to use for easy cash back.

Chase Freedom Rewards Program

The Chase Freedom cash back rewards credit card replaced the Chase Plus Rewards card many years ago, and it has been popular ever since. The Freedom card has one of the most generous rewards programs in the industry.

With the Chase Freedom credit card, you can earn points for cash back rewards. For many, this option is just what they are looking for. While there is nothing wrong with receiving points, some consumers prefer cash back. And with the Chase Freedom this is never a problem. Your options are easy to understand, and when coupled with solid customer service it makes for a great rewards credit card.

Our favorite feature of this card is the fact that you can earn a full 1% Cash Back on every purchase with no spending tiers or caps on how much you can earn. You can also earn 5% Cash Back throughout the year on rotating categories.

The nice thing about the quarterly rewards categories is they do complement consumer spending habits throughout the year. For example, the current bonus category rewards includes restaurants at the time of year people eat out more often.

In addition to the 5% back bonus, you can earn up to 10% and free shipping when shopping online through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall. Popular retailers participating in this program include Best Buy, Apple, QVC, Target, JCPenney, Sears and many others (several hundred actually).

After logging in to the Ultimate Rewards Mall with your Chase account you can select the online store you would like to shop at. You are then redirected to the retailer’s online store (e.g., bestbuy.com). Chase then tracks your purchases and you receive bonus cash back or points with your next statement.

Outside of the caps on the 5% bonus rewards, your cash back rewards are unlimited. And your rewards never expire, as long as you keep your account open.

Note For Chase Checking Customers: After the closing date on your December 2015 billing statement, Chase will no longer offer the 10% annual bonus for your cash back spending. You will receive your final 10% annual bonus award in early 2016. And from that point forward you will receive the exact same rewards as all other Chase Freedom cardholders.

Signup Cash Back Bonus

Chase normally offers a signup bonus reward of $100 if you spend $500 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Additionally, you can earn another $25 cash rewards bonus by adding an authorized user and making your first purchase in the same 3-month period.

Chase Freedom Card Negatives

There are a couple of reasons that the Chase Freedom card may not be the cash rewards credit card for you:

Our Verdict

With so many credit cards to choose from it is not always simple to locate one that suits your spending habits and overall financial picture. Chase Freedom has quickly become known as having one of the best rewards programs around. There are not many cards that offer 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in popular categories and 1% unlimited cash back with no tiers.

To go along with this, Chase does not bring down the value of the card with a high annual fee and APR. Although there are other rewards programs out there, this card is one of our favorites and overall is one of the best you are going to find — especially without an annual fee.

Last Updated on May 23, 2019

The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone. Additionally, the opinions of the commenters are not necessarily the opinions of this site

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